Today, Fast Ethernet makes up the majority of LANs, however in the very near future Gigabit Ethernet will overtake Fast Ethernet as the primary network technology. Gigabit Ethernet's dramatic increase in popularity is based on its scalable performance, flexibility, ease of implementation and lowered costs approaching 10/100 Ethernet. As the trend for bandwidth-intensive applications continues, the need for high-performance connectivity solutions will fuel the Gigabit transition.

The Broadcom NetXtreme line of Gigabit Ethernet products, provide a complete end-to-end Gigabit solution from the server and server backbone to the switch infrastructure and now down through to the desktop and workstation. Just as networks migrated from 10-Mbit to 100-Mbit and gained a 10-fold improvement, the same will be true when moving from 100-Mbit to Gigabit. By alleviating congestion and removing bottlenecks, the network simply performs better.

By bringing Gigabit to the desktop and workstation, many benefits are achieved for network administrators and for end users. Deploying Gigabit is no longer an unattainable feat; it is a reality that is being achieved due to three items - affordability, ease of deployment, and performance benefits.